Mechanical horse



S. BELZ MECHANICAL HORSE Filed Nov. 8, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 July 8,1947. I'M

MECHANICAL HORSE 2 SheetsSheet 2 Filed Nov. 8, 1944 Patented July 8,1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MECHANICAL HORSE Sam Belz, Memphis,Tenn.

Application November 8, 1944, Serial No. 562,527

8 Claims.

This invention relate generally to the class of toys or amusement devicedesigned primarily for the use of children and pertains particularly toan improved play or hobby-horse.

A principal object of the present invention is to provide a mechanicalhorse of novel construction, which may be formed practically entirely ofnoncritical materials and which, at the same time, is so constructed asto enable a rider to imitate many of the movements followed in theriding of a living horse.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device of the characterstated which is of strong and durable construction and which may beeasily and quickly assembled or set up and produced substantiallyentirely from nonmeta1lic materials.

The invention will be best understood from a consideration of thefollowin detailed description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings forming a part of the specification, with the understanding,however, that the invention is not confined to a strict conformity withthe showing of the drawings but may be changed or modified so long assuch changes or modifications mark no material departure from thesalient features of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a mechanical horse constructedin accordance with the present invention.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the same.

Figure 3 i a vertical longitudinal section taken upon the line 3-3 ofFigure 2. V

Figure 4 is a view in rear elevation with the skirt removed. I

Figure 5 is a view partly in section and partly in elevation of thefront legs and the connections of adjacent parts thereto.

Figure 6 is a detail view partly in section and partly in elevationshowing the connection of the body with the front legs.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings wherein like numerals ofreference indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views, thenumeral 88 generally designates the body of the horse which is hereillustrated as being formed from a single fiat board of suitable length.

The side edges of the body iii are cut inwardly from points to one sideof the transverse center of the body and to the opposite end asindicated at H so that the forward end portion or front of the body isof gradually reduced width wherea the maximum width of the body is atthe rear. This is clearly illustrated in Figure 2.

Upon the top of the body at the rear or part of maximum width, there isfixed a seat pad l2, at the rear of which is the low upwardly andrearwardly inclined padded back I3.

Upon the top of the forward or front part of the body ii! there is fixedthe carved horse head M. This is preferably formed from a piece ofmaterial of uniform thickness as shown in Figure 2 and there is extendedthrough this head body the dowel G5 which provides hand grips upon bothsides of the head, for the rider.

The numeral 46 designates the front legs while the rear legs aredesignated ll. The front legs 55 are of materially greater length thanthe rear legs and are disposed in spaced parallel relation upon oppositesides of the front of the body Hi to ext-end. forwardly downwardly fromthe body.

At their lower ends the legs l6 are suitably shaped or curved torepresent hoofs l8 and between the hoofs extends a dowel [9, the ends ofwhich may be sunk into the inner sides of the legs as indicated at 25]in Figure 5. Upon this dowel, wheels or rollers 2! are mounted, whichare maintained in spaced relation by suitable separator blocks 22.

The front and rear legs of the horse are connected by the horizontalpairs of bars 23 and 24. The bars forming the lower pair are designated23 while those forming the upper pair, which overlie the lower bars 23,are designated 24.

As shown the pairs of longitudinally extending bars 23 and 24 aredisposed at their forward and rear ends against the inner sides of thefront and rear legs.

The front ends of the lower bars 23 are connected by the transversedowel 25 which extends through them into the legs as shown in Figure 5and these dowels together with the adjacent bars and legs are connectedtogether by fastenin devices 26 in the form of nails, screws or thelike.

At the rear end of the bars 23 a similar dowel 21 connects the rear legsand the bars 23 together and this dowel has a further function as willbe hereinafter described.

Rearwardly of the dowel 25 the bars 23 are connected by the footrestforming dowel 28 which. passes through and beyond the outer sides of thebars 23 as shown in Figure 4.

The upper pair of bars 24 likewise have extending ther-ebetween thefront and rear dowels 29 and 36, respectively, which pass through thebars and into the adjacent legs where they are secured by suitablefastening devices 26, In addition to those fastening devices which enterthe ends of the dowels as shown in Figure other devices may be extendedthrough the legs and the adjacent bars as illustrated in this figur orany other suitable means may be employed for securing the bars and legsrigidly together.

As shown in Figure 3, the rear legs are of substantial width and aredisposed vertically so that they will effectively and safely support aheavy weight. At their lower ends these legs are joined together by thehorizontal foot or base piece 3! which rests upon the floor.

As shown the body H3 is spaced a substantial distance above the top bars24 and, as previously stated, the front legs It extend upwardly uponopposite sides of the body.

Extending across the underside of the front end of the body ill is thebar 32, the ends of which are turned to form the trunnions 33 which, asshown in Figure 6, position in suitable bearing sockets 3 formed in theadjacent inner faces of the legs 65. Beneath this bar a reenforcingdowel 35 is interposed between the upper ends of the legs. This preventsany binding of the legs against the ends of the bar 32 in the event ofdeformation of th legs due to warping or the like.

Resting upon and supported, by the upper bars 2 3 beneath the wideportion of the body if) is a pair of coil springs 3%, the upper ends ofwhich press against the underside of the body as shown in Figure 3.ihese springs are secured at their upper and lower ends respectively, tothe body to and the bars '2 and disposed beneath the springs andconnecting across between the bars as are webs 3?.

The springs 23% are under compression at all times and therefore,constan ly exert an upward thrust upon the rear end of the body.However, the upward movement of the rear end of the body is limited bythe strap 38 which is looped around the dowel and has its free endssecured as indicated at 35 to the back edge of the body iii as shown inFigure 3. The strap is, accordingly, maintained tight at all times whenthe body is unoccupied and it is drawn tightly across the dowel 3B whichlies between the body l6 and the dowel 2'? to which the strap isconnected.

In order to give a desirable form to the horse and also to cover thespring 36 and the rear legs and ends of the bars 23 and 2 5, there issecured around the edge of the body if) the skirt it. The rear part ofthe skirt is of materially greater length than the front part so thatthe major portion of the rear legs ii, together with the movementlimiting strap 38, will be covered.

From the foregoing, it will be readily apparent that a person seatedastride the body it upon the seat I2, can readily simulate the ridingmovements of e, horseman by giving an up and down motion to th bodywhile holding on to the handle or hand grip l5 and having the feetresting on the footrest or support 28. This will cause the alternatecompression and expansion of the springs 33 which will cause the body 88of the horse to follow the movements of the riders body. In this manneruse may be made of the mechanical horse not only as a source of amusement but as a source of healthful exercise.

In order to allow for the movement of the body Hi without interferencfrom the skirt M, the sides of th skirt at the front are cut away asindicated at M to permit the bar 32 and dowel 35 to extend therethrough.

I claim:

1. A mechanical horse comprising a relatively long flat body member, apair of front legs arranged into spaced parallel relation and having oneend of the body member disposed therebetween at their upper ends, saidlegs extending downwardly and forwardly from the front end of the bodymember, a horizontal pivotal connection between the front legs and theintenposed end of the body member, a pair of substantially vertical rearlegs disposed beneath the rear end of the body member, the rear legsbeing spaced a substantial distance below the body member, horizontalbars connecting the front and rear legs together, transverse connectingmembers between the front legs and the ends of the horizontal barsadjacent thereto, transverse connecting members between the rear legsand the ends of the bars adjacent thereto, spring means connecting therear end of the body member with th underlying rear legs and exerting anupward th'rust against the rear end of the body member, and meansconheating the rear end of the body member with one of the transverseconnecting means between the rear le s for limiting the upward movementof the rear end of the body member.

2. A mechanical horse as set forth in claim 1,

with a bar member extending transversely of and supported by a pair ofthe bar members, rearwardly of and adjacent to the front legs andproviding a footrest.

3. A mechanical horse as set forth in claim 1, with roller memberssupported between the lower ends of the front legs, and a foot bardisposed across and connecting the lower ends of the rear legs.

l. A mechanical horse comp-rising a, relatively long fiat body memberhaving a front end of reduced width, an upstanding bod simulating ahorses head supported upon the top of the body member at said front end,a seat supported upon the top of the body member adjacent to the rearend, a pair of front legs having the front end of the body memberdisposed between the upper ends thereof, the legs extending downwardlyand forwardly with respect to the front end of the body member, a barsecured across the underside of the front end of the body member andhaving its ends extending beyond the sides of the body member and formedto provide trunnions, said trunnions having pivotal connection in theadjacent legs whereby the rear end of the body member is supported forvertical movement, a pair of rear legs disposed beneath the rear end ofthe body member and having their upper ends spaced a substantialdistance from the body member, horizontally disposed bars connecting thefront and rear legs together, a coil spring supported upon a pair ofsaid bars adjacent to the rear legs and connecting the rear end of thebody member with the legs, a cross connecting member between the rearlegs, and a movement limiting strap connecting the cross connectingmember with the rear end of the body member whereby upward movement ofthe body member under the influence of the spring means is limited.

5. A mechanical horse of the character stated, comprising a pair ofsubstantially vertical rear leg members, a pair of front leg members ofmaterially greater length than the rear leg members and disposed at aninclination from the vertical with the lower ends farther removed fromthe rear legs than the upper ends, a relatively long body member havingone end disposed between the upper ends of the front legs, a pivotalconnection between the body member and the front legs for the verticaloscillation of the other end of the body member, the said other end ofthe body member being spaced from the upper ends of the rear le s, acoil spring connected between the said other end of the body member andthe rear legs, a transverse connecting member between the rear legs, anda movement limiting strap connecting said transverse member with thesaid other end of the body member and functioning to limit the upwardmovement of said other end of the body member.

6. A toy horse comprising a horizontal rectangular frame like structureconsisting of longitudinal side bars and. transverse connecting members,a pair of rear legs connected to one end of said frame and terminatingat their upper ends at the top of the frame, a pair of front legs ofmaterially greater length than the rear legs and attached to oppositesides of the frame at the opposite end, the front legs extendingdownwardly and forwardly from the frame and having their upper endsextended a substantial distance above the plane of the frame, a seatboard overlying and spaced from said frame and having one end extendedbetween the upper ends of the front legs, means pivotally coupling thefront end of the seat board with the adjacent front legs for oscillationon a horizontal axis, Webs extending transversely of said frame adjacentto the rear end thereof between and connected with the said side bars,spring members supported upon said Webs and supporting upon their upperends the rear portion of the seat board, and a flexible member connectedbetween the rear end of the seat board and the rear logs, the connectionof the flexible member with the rear legs being at a level a substantialdistance below the level of the frame.

7. A toy horse of the character stated in claim 6 with a lower framecomprising longitudinal side bars and transverse members disposedbetween the first frame and the connecting front and rear legs, the saidflexible member being attached to a transverse member of the secondmentioned frame, and foot rests carried by the second mentioned frameand extending laterally from the sides thereof.

8. A toy horse structure of the character stated in claim 6, with arigid support bar extending transversely between and across the lowerends of the rear legs, a dowel extending transversely between the lowerends of the front legs, and rollers carried upon the said dowel.

SAM BELZ.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,315,431 Stoeltzing Sept. 9,1919 1,654,169 Higginson Dec. 2'7, 1927 FOREIGN PATENTS Number CountryDate 5,291 Great Britain Mar. 2, 1912

